Current Uses of Nanotechnology

This quote from "The Next Big Thing Is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change The Future Of Your Business" (by Jack Uldrich and Deb Newberry ) sums it up nicely:

"This is not to say that nanotechnology is a far-off, fuzzy, futuristic technology. It is not. It has already established a beachhead in the economy. The clothing industry is starting to feel the effects of nanotech. Eddie Bauer, for example, is currently using embedded nanoparticles to create stain-repellent khakis. f; and stain-removal makers, who will experience a sharp decrease in customers. This modest, fairly low-tech application of nanotechnology is just the small tip of a vast iceberg--an iceberg that threatens to sink even the "unsinkable" companies."

For a look ahead, see "The Future of Nanotechnology: Molecular Manufacturing" by K. Eric Drexler, Founder and Chairman, Foresight Institute, and Predictions

A plastic nanocomposite is being used for "step assists" in the GM Safari and Astro Vans. It is scratch-resistant, light-weight, and rust-proof, and generates improvements in strength and reductions in weight, which lead to fuel savings and increased longevity. And in 2001, Toyota started using nanocomposites in a bumper that makes it 60% lighter and twice as resistant to denting and scratching.
Impact: Will likely be used on other GM and Toyota models soon, and in other areas of their vehicles, as well as the other auto manufactures, lowering weight, increasing milage, and creating longer-lasting autos. Likely to impact repair shops (fewer repairs needed) and auto insurance companies (fewer claims). Will also likely soon be seen everywhere weight, weather-proofing, durability, and strength are important factors. Expect NASA, the ESA, and other space-faring organizations to take a serious look, soon, which will eventually result in lower lift costs, which will result in more material being lifted into space.

Nope, not in the least.computational

by JiminyCrickets

Advancement is not science fiction. Nanotechnology is no science fiction.
Database supercomputers are not science fiction.
The scale of quantum computing is not science fiction.
10 years ago Stephen Hawking wrote
"At the moment, computers show no sign of intelligence. This is not surprising, because our present computers are less complex than the brain of an earthworm. But it seems to me that if very complicated chemical molecules can operate in humans to make them intelligent, then equally complicated electronic circuits can also make computers act in an intelligent way

You haven't done enough investigating

by JiminyCrickets

We have no idea what consciousness is or when it takes place. The mega computer centers will be as large as New York City and be stationed out in space performing multiple quintillion computation per millisecond.
Dwarfing human computation - in fact dwarfing the entire human population of computation by many trillion fold.
Humans are a threatened species and we are unwittingly creating the predator.
Once nanotechnology starts building the nano components you will see a drastic rise in computational quota.

Nanotubes Increase Solar PV Conductivity 100 Million-Fold — SourceableCarbon-based nanostructures are already being used as materials in solar cells with increasing frequency, yet their ability to enhance electrical performance has thus far been hampered by limited ability to assemble orderly networks using the materials.